enjoying holiday feasts

We’re in the holiday season now, with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching. And typically there are family reunions and parties during this time where people eat a lot of food. And there will undoubtedly be “news” reporting linking this with obesity. So let me say this again: holiday meals don’t cause obesity.

While this blog has a lot of randomness and made-up content, that is absolutely true and supported by research. Follow the link to read more and find my source.

The TL;DR version: The average weight gain for the entire holiday season is just 0.8 pounds. Less than one pound! So while at these feasts of celebration and fellowship, enjoy the food. During that meal, don’t worry about calories and fat grams — just enjoy the time. Resume your healthy eating at other meals.

Perhaps I should add a disclaimer that I’m not a doctor nor a dietician. Although I do know a lot about eating… 🙂 I also try to eat healthy and responsibly most of the time. It just irks me when “news” people try to make people feel so bad they can’t enjoy a celebratory feast with family and friends.

finding humor around you

Normally I write something that is (hopefully) amusing to you, but if I may, today I’ll write about finding amusement around you.

This morning I was riding my bicycle and drove through a pile of leaves that had fallen from a tree. It’s autumn here, so this is happening a lot. I enjoyed the sound of the leaves crunching under my tires. Made me feel like a kid again. I also enjoy seeing leaves scatter around the road after I drive through them with my truck. And it’s neat to see leaves falling from the trees. And I enjoy the fall colors.

That’s a lot of talk about leaves, but this isn’t about leaves. Rather, I found amusement in my surroundings. This is something I try to do every day. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying content created for YouTube or funny/silly videos promoted by the algorithms on social media (like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.), I don’t want to lose the ability to enjoy everyday life in the natural.

That may sound absurd to think it’s even possible, but it could happen. I’ve noticed kids cry out “I’m bored!” instantly when denied time with a screen on an electronic device. That should not be! I’m certainly not against enjoying videos or video games, but if my amusement requires content to be spoon-fed to me by some algorithm, that’s not acceptable.

It’s also easy to pick on kids regarding screen time, but adults are susceptible to it, too. (And it doesn’t help that social media algorithms are using psychology to entice you to stay on their site so they can make more money showing you ads.) Notice how often you pick up your phone when you have a few minutes to wait. Many (if not most) adults now instinctively grab their phone when there’s a moment free that they can. You can see it at traffic lights (or even while they’re driving), at a restaurant with their friends, at a sports game, etc.

Again, it’s not wrong to enjoy online content. But are you missing out on your actual life? Are you enjoying your actual life, or mostly being entertained by social media? Do you regularly see the humor and joy in your family and friends and life in general? It’s worth thinking about what matters most to you.

Sorry for the serious rant there… at least it’s about humor, so not totally off-topic.

You may now return to your regularly-scheduled life. Try to enjoy it!

funny costumes, pt. 5

It’s that time again… So here’s more funny / innovative / impressive Halloween costumes.

Sure, you can make your own cosplay costume. Making it look realistic is a lot harder than you might think.
When you create your own costume, it’s good to get a second opinion. It shouldn’t look like you’re wearing a diaper…
Even Sauron gets sweet cravings… Just don’t mess up his order!
I don’t know what happened here…
Some things shouldn’t be supersized… this is scary!
This is high quality! The attention to detail is impressive. This took either a lot of time or money. It’s almost too good for trick-or-treating — this should be at a comic-con cosplay contest.

If you want to see more,
we’ve made several other posts of funny costumes (click to search).

donut nachos

This is just a photo found online. We haven’t tried this idea yet, but will post an update when we do. Just wanted to add a picture here, because, donuts are delicious. And talking about food is better with pictures.

If you think about the title wrong, it might sound gross. So if it sounds gross, you have the wrong image. 🙂 Perhaps we need a new name, but we have to start somewhere.

The idea started when I was having lunch with the Buffet o’ Blog staff. One of the guys ordered pork nachos. Later the conversation turned to donuts. We had the idea of making a dish like nachos but instead of chips, start with donuts. Have bite-sized pieces of donuts, then add chunks of bacon and/or sausage, and instead of cheese, pour icing over the top. Or you could put chocolate gravy over it.

I’ve never seen or heard of anyone doing this, but it sounds like it would taste great. Perhaps some research is in order… Update: I did a quick search, and it has been done, but the pictures I saw weren’t as awesome as what I’m imagining, so we should still attempt this someday.

Someone mentioned the idea of putting gravy on it. I don’t know… I’d try it, but I’m not sure how the sweetness would work with the gravy. Also, to be clear, this is referring to Southern-style gravy, made from sausage grease.

What do you think about the idea? And what would you call it?